Carlisle names Douglas Chin as new managing director

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Honolulu mayor elect Peter Carlisle announced Wednesday one of his former deputies at the prosecutors' office, Doug Chin, will serve as the city's new managing director.

Chin worked under Carlisle for more than ten years as a deputy prosecutor. The past few years he has been the 1st deputy, and has served as acting prosecutor since July when Carlisle left the job to run for mayor.

Chin has successfully prosecuted several high profile cases in Honolulu.

In 2008 Chin successfully argued that Honolulu resident Danny Friddle deserved an extended sentence of life in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting his infant daughter. A conviction for first degree sexual assault usually results in a prison term of no longer than 20 years. Chin said Friddle's crimes were "shocking, despicable and abominable."

"The most memorable case for me was actually this year," Chin told Hawaii News Now. "It was prosecuting Vernon Bartley for the murder of Karen Ertell. She was a neighbor of his in Ewa Beach. He was a juvenile and we tried him as an adult for murder ... for strangling her in her home and he was found guilty."

"One of the things that was very enjoyable to me while I was at the prosecutor's office was actually the administrative side. Kind of strange, but that's actually something I really enjoy doing. I like working with people. I like being able to solve problems. And so when I look at moving from the prosecutor's office to the city, what I really see is taking the management skills and training that I learned there and just broadening them out to the rest of the city," Chin said.

Chin is the son of Chinese immigrants. He grew up in Seattle, went to undergraduate school at Stanford University and attended law school at the University of Hawaii. He lives in Liliha with his wife and two children.

Chin says his 21 years in Hawaii working as a lawyer in the private sector and in the prosecutor's office has prepared him for the role of managing director.

"I think the other thing that's prepared me for this job is that I've worked for Peter (Carlisle) for all these years. I know him. I know how to talk to him. I know what his plans are for the city and I'm looking forward to seeing how we can make those things work," Chin added.

Chin says he's eager to further Carlisle's ideas on fiscal responsibility while at the same time proving the city services people expect.

The city's managing director assists the mayor in overseeing the various departments of city government. The managing director acts as the mayor in the mayor's absence and takes over as mayor in the event of a resignation.

Chin's first day on the job will be October 11. Until then he said he will be working to ease the transition for incoming city prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro.